Is an influenza pandemic imminent?
A. Scientists and doctors can’t tell us when or where the next pandemic influenza will strike or how severe it will be. But most agree that there will be another pandemic sometime in the future. Pandemic influenza has occurred periodically throughout human history. Since we know that, we have an advantage: We can plan for the next one, whenever it might be. The scientific community is increasingly concerned about a new virus known as H5N1, a type of avian, or bird, influenza. It has spread through bird some populations across Asia into Europe, the Middle East and Africa . So far, human cases of illness caused by this virus have been very rare.
